Yucaipa High 'teacher of the year' accused of sex crime involving student

Rachel Uranga
·1 min read
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Detectives identified Yucaipa High School teacher, Tracy Vanderhulst, as the suspect.
High school teacher Tracy Vanderhulst was arrested Thursday, accused of unlawful intercourse with a student. (San Bernardino County Sheriff's and Yucaipa Police departments)

A 38-year-old teacher at Yucaipa High School was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old male student, authorities said.

Tracy Vanderhulst was booked into the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino. A news release said she was booked in lieu of $30,000 bail, but it was unclear Friday night whether she was in custody.

Vanderhulst was named Yucaipa High's 2017 "teacher of the year," according to social media posts and local news reports from the time. In a now-deleted tweet, the school said she "offers up a rigorous mathematics curriculum and deep caring for her students."

In a YouTube video posted seven years ago, she can be seen teaching a math honors course to mostly freshman.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department investigators worked on the case with the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Rachel Young at (909) 890-4904. Tips can be made anonymously at (800) 782-7463 or wetip.com.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.